Pinterest vs. Google+: Which New Social Network Is Worth Marketers' Time?

We've all gotten used to the idea of using Twitter, Facebook, and even YouTube for marketing -- even if the platforms aren't always as brand-friendly as they could be. And why should they be? They started as social networks meant for people to talk to people, not companies to talk to consumers. But in the struggle for monetization, they've had to adapt and continue offering ways for brands to market and make money using social media.

And we have! Many marketers have figured out how to generate leads via social media, start discussions with leads and customers, and even venture into the territory of social sales. And just when we got comfortable with this whole social media marketing thing -- BOOM! -- out comes Google+, followed shortly thereafter by Pinterest.

Great. Two more social networks brands need to figure out how to use for marketing. We all saw what happened with Facebook and Twitter; a small segment of savvy marketers figured out how to use the social networks for marketing successfully, and businesses that lagged were left playing catch-up years later. We're not going to fall victim to that again with Google+ and Pinterest!

But do we need to figure out how to use them for marketing? Are either of them actually useful in that regard? Like most generic questions of this nature, the answer is ... it depends. Pinterest and Google+ have their strengths and their weaknesses. And while in an ideal world you'd have the time to play around with both to see which, if either, is right for your business, we figure that you're just trying to find enough time to write your next blog post.

So if you just can't decide whether Pinterest or Google+ is really worth your time, here's a breakdown of the pros and cons of each social network. Hopefully the side by side comparison will help you prioritize whether you should pursue them as part of your internet marketing strategy.

Pinterest

First, a quick review. Pinterest is a social network where users share (or 'pin') images and videos of items that interest them. They are either their own images and videos, or ones they've found on others' pinboards or on the web. The pins are aggregated on 'boards' that often follow a common theme. If you decide after reading this post that Pinterest might be a good fit for your business, reference this ebook about how to use Pinterest for business.

Why Pinterest Rocks

You don't want to spend your time on a social network nobody is using, so let's start by taking a look at Pinterest's usage stats as an indication of its usefulness, courtesy of Media Bistro and comScore. As of February 2012, Pinterest had 10.4 million users. And in January, not only did Pinterest reach 11,716, 000 total unique visitors, but the average amount of time spent on the site per visitor was 97.8 minutes. Or in highly technical marketing terms – the site’s really sticky. Why does this make Pinterest a great potential social haven for marketers? It means that the site provides significant value to its users, enough so they’re willing to set aside a large chunk of their day to spend on it. And if those metrics continue to go up, it’s an indication that Pinterest is not just a passing fad.

One of the reasons Pinterest has probably taken off – and why marketers should be excited about it – is that it offers a value proposition that’s unique from the other social networks out there. If someone asked you to define what all the major social networks did – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube – it’s pretty easy to differentiate them from one another. And Pinterest is no different! None of the existing social networks do exactly what Pinterest does. Sure, you can share images on Facebook or via a Twitpic, but image-sharing is not those sites' primary purpose as it is with Pinterest.

Pinterest has also made it very easy to share content on the web, something content-crazy (in a positive way!) inbound marketers should get excited about. Pinterest prompts users to download a pinmarklet (a Pinterest toolbar bookmarklet) that allows them to pin any content they find on the web that they want to share; it’s just that easy. No copying and pasting links or switching between tabs and browsers. If you’re investing in visual content – infographics, cartoons, videos, etc. – Pinterest just made it even easier for that content to be disseminated by your readers to a brand new audience.

Which brings us to one of the best parts of Pinterest – that it’s an image-driven site! And people love images, far more than they love words. In fact, images and videos are the most shared content on Facebook. If you’re a product-driven business, sharing beautiful images of your products on Pinterest is a simple way to leverage the tremendous power of visuals on a booming social network that is dedicated solely to sharing beautiful and interesting images.

Where Pinterest Falls Short

One of Pinterest’s biggest strengths, its emphasis on visual content, is also one of its biggest weaknesses for some businesses. Frankly, most people think of Pinterest as a place to look at things like clothes, hairstyles, furniture, crafts, and other visually stimulating images. If you’re not a B2C or product-oriented business – or you’re like HubSpot and your product is inbound marketing software -- it’s a stretch to find a use for Pinterest. That’s not to say you can’t be successful on Pinterest; HubSpot got creative and combined pinboards of our visual content, like infographics, ebook covers, and inbound marketing graphs, with pinboards that reflect our brand, like “Fun Orange Things” and “Things With Spots.”

And while relatively unsexy B2B businesses have found success on Pinterest, it has also resulted in some backlash from pinners about whether Pinterest should be a safe space from marketers. We wrote a blog post that discusses that debate in much more detail, but if you’re considering experimenting with Pinterest, it’s important to note that you very well may experience some backlash for it if you’re perceived as, well, marketing (even though Pinterest has wiped any warnings against using the site for marketing from its 'Pin Etiquette' since we published that post).

It makes sense; one of the other weaknesses of Pinterest is the lack of dedicated brand pages. Google+, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn all eventually developed space specifically for companies, which helps alleviate some of the frustration consumers feel when they feel like they’re being marketed to in their personal social networks. The challenge marketers will face on Pinterest, then, is figuring out how to market without seeming like marketing. In other words, create visual content that’s so cool, people won’t care that it’s also driving referral traffic and inbound links to your website. Visual content creators out there know doing that is much harder than it looks.

Google+

Now that we know Pinterest's strengths and weaknesses, let's do a quick review of Google+ before continuing our deep dive. Google+ is a social network many have described as similar to Facebook. It lets users -- and since November, brands have dedicated pages for the same purpose -- share status updates, links, images, and videos. These updates can be commented on, shared, or receive a +1, which shows up in search engine results pages. We also have a Google+ for business ebook for your reference if you decide it's a worthwhile social network on which to spend your marketing time.

Why Google+ Rocks

While users don’t expect Pinterest to be used for business, marketers on Google+ aren’t met with any surprise from others on the social network. Even when Google+ initially launched without dedicated brand pages, it wasn’t strange to see businesses promoting their content – probably because the network worked so similarly to Facebook (more on that later) which has long since integrated brand conversations with personal updates. So if you’re concerned with being met with consumer backlash on Pinterest, Google+ is certainly a safer space to try out a new social media venture.

Google+ also allows for better targeting of content with its Circles functionality. You likely have several personas developed for your business, and if you’ve done any content mapping you know that while some content is ubiquitous, much of it needs to be tailored to the audience. Instead of blasting updates to your entire Google+ following, Circles allows marketers to let their followers identify the topics they’re most interested in. This is the kind of content targeting inbound marketers relish, because it leads to higher click-through rates and a more engaged social following.

But perhaps the best argument for getting started on Google+ is its integration into search results. Google+ status updates and content people have given a +1 to now appear in the organic search engine results on Google.com. So whether you simply have a +1 button on your blog or you’re actively publishing content to Google+, your content has a much greater chance of dominating search results than it did before your participation in Google+. If you’re interesting in seriously dominating organic search results with Google+, reference this blog post that will teach you the tricks of the trade.

Where Google+ Falls Short

Just like Pinterest, Google+’s strengths also contribute to its weaknesses. Namely, some people find it really confusing. What’s the difference between just posting to Google+, and +1’ing content? If I do either of them, does it mean I show up in search? How can I use Google+ to share content without making it indexable in search? These are all valid concerns that, as marketers, we understand, but we also easily take for granted that our target audience may not understand the intricacies of how Google+ works. And if they don’t get it, they won’t use it.

Perhaps that – plus a lack of clear value proposition – is why Google+ usage has leveled off after its initially skyrocketing adoption rate. While Pinterest has users on its site for over an hour at a time, eMarketer reports that users spent an average of just 3.3 minutes on Google+ in January. Ouch. So while Google+ has more users than Pinterest, those users aren’t actually spending time on the site each month; do marketers really want to spend time on a social network their users aren’t?

For Google+ to provide the same kind of value for its users as Pinterest, it needs to provide a unique value proposition like Pinterest has. Remember when I said it was easy to define the major social networks, like Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter? I have a confession. I had a difficult time coming up with the words to explain Google+ in the beginning of this section. All I could think to say was – it’s pretty much like Facebook. And until Google+ can differentiate itself further, it’s not likely users will spend more than a few minutes a month on there, either.

So, Which Should You Choose?

Pinterest has the opportunity to be extremely valuable for retail businesses, or anyone who sells an aesthetic-centered service -- think hairdressers, for example. But it can also have a lot of value to businesses that are willing to put in the time to create visually stimulating content -- we've written an entire post about how B2B organizations can thrive on Pinterest. But your time will be wasted if the only time you have to give, at this stage in the game, is sharing links to written content you and others are creating. Realistically, that's what many businesses are doing on social media (and that's okay!), and Google+ is a much more appropriate social network for such sharing.

But I would be remiss to close out this post without mentioning one key difference between Google+ and Pinterest that might affect your decision to participate in the networks: Pinterest users are mostly women, while Google+ users are largely men. Okay, let's dive into some data and raging gender stereotypes for just a minute, courtesy of Remcolandia:

83% of Pinterest users are females between 18 and 34.

Most Pinterest posts and photos are about design, fashion, and home decoration.

63% of Google+ users are men, who tend to post about technology.

Two of the biggest user groups on Google+ are college students and software developers.

Does your business' target audience have a similarly heavy skew in one of these directions -- either by industry, job type, or gender? If so, this data may be key in deciding whether it's worth your time to pursue marketing on Google+ or Pinterest.

All of this isn't to say you should use Google+ or Pinterest, or that you should limit your usage to just one. If you have the bandwidth to experiment with both, finding opportunities to present your information both verablly and visually, take on the task! (And share the results with us, please!) But since we know how strapped for time and resources many marketers already are, hopefully this side by side comparison of the pros and cons of the two newest social networks makes your decision to participate just a little less agonizing.

Which social network -- if either -- do you find more helpful for your business, and why? Do you think one or both will fade into oblivion as a marketing tool?

Spot on. In my humble opinion, they are two different beats. Google+ has a long term SEO potential where Pinterest could be an instant traffic source. Both need to have a different social media plan. Google+ is more structured the way Corey explained and Pinterest is a "bonding" medium. Warm up your target customers with Pinterest and conduct business as usual with Google+

"83% of Pinterest users are females between 18 and 34" That statistic really says it all. If that's your target audience, you'd be crazy not to be there in some way, shape or form. I know some guys that spend time there and think it's cool, but as things currently stand, most of the time I see or read anything about Pinterest, it's coming from that demographic.

I have paid more focus on G+, for results mainly and social side. But I have been using Pinterest for my infographics or any fun pictures that apply. It is a choice but I think using both, just paying more to the network will help either way. I guess we are going to have to test and see which gives the better results!

The one unique value that Google+ has to offer vs. Facebook is the SEO potential. Since Google+ is operated by the largest search engine, some marketers suspect the SEO impact on Google+ may be stronger than the other social channels. I worry that will lead to many brands maintaining a presence on Google+, but not really using it to engage with their audience. However, until average time on site improves, there's little reason for brands to engage with people there as they do on Facebook and Twitter.

Doc Harvard

Your article is skewed. You are relying on data based on an improperly used tool.

Additionally, your statement that G+ is just for, or primarily for, men who only post technology is wrong.

Please stop perpetuating the falsehood that people only spend 3.3 minutes on Google plus and that it's only for men. Try getting involved and learning to use the tool correctly. I've taken the time to look at your brand page and you are doing just like every other brand that is coming from FaceBook, you're talking at the people who have you circled instead of interacting with those people.

If you choose to talk at the people that have you circled you will not experience the true value of Google+

No no no. Everyone keeps quoting the same erroneous information when it comes to Google+., and usually it's people that haven't figured out how to use the platform.

It's not Facebook, and it's not twitter. Stop comparing them. Add some people to your circles and interact with them and you will see that G+ is about conversations, not just posting a bunch of stuff into the ether and hoping people read it.

Companies have been complaining for years that they wanted to have a way to 'interact' with their customers in some social networking context and G+ is it.

We have been using Pinterest and it's a lot of fun. Our customers are mostly women, so it's a good fit. Had not jumped on the Google+ bandwagon yet, so it's nice to know the statistic about their audience.

Personally, none of the clients I work for see any traffic from Google+ so I'd have opted for Pinterest anyway as a testing tool and so far it's proving to drive more traffic for both B2B and B2C clients.

For B2B, we actually loves what the Wall Street Journal was doing by using pullquotes as their images.

http://pinterest.com/wsj/quotes/

We attempted to do this on our own for fun and it's actually brought in a surprising amount of traffic, although we don't see many repins or likes. At least people are clicking, and from there many are hitting the "tweet" button too.

Really honest and straight review, I too feel that Pinterest is not suitable for every business. On the other hand Google+ is suitable for every business and you can try different marketing techniques as well.

Really useful - especially the demographic info. I've been wanting to up my game on both - now I can connect better when I do. Thanks :)

Cathy

aHURA

Pinterest is awesome! I’ve just discovered the new SEO too-it?s Colibri and it?s awesome-it can track my website position on every Google,it also find my competition or even suggest it, monitors Facebook, Twitter mentions and backlinks to my website. Most functional-highly recommend! http://colibritool.com/

Very good analysis but in addition to being a good SEO tool, Google Plus is so far very friendly to those who want to add friends to their Circles. Facebook is still stuck in its metaphor of being a College year facebook and slaps hard when people extend their circle of friends beyond their acquaintances. Google Plus is designed from the ground up to be about conversations between like minded strangers and has not started policing with stupid questions like "do you know this person outside Facebook." It remains to be seen if they will become more strict if too many users complain of being spammed.

It doesn't matter much if Google+ was created as the ideal social media website for businesses to interact with consumers, because the simple fact is that consumers don't want to be on Google+. So much of a person's life is built on Facebook, and converting to Google+ is too high a cost. Pinterest, on the other hand, doesn't require you to create a whole new profile to the extent Google+ asks you to convert from Facebook.

I agree with Bryn. Google+ may be ideal for businesses and may work very well for a small percentage of businesses but the majority of small to medium businesses gain nothing but some free SEO. Cause no one's using it.

Pinterest really rocks for brands that have visual items for sale, especially ecommerce sites that can drive traffic to product pages. It's a bit more tricky for services based companies. Google+ rocks for its functionality, but it's hard to grown your network as a brand because of the following rules Google sets up (you cannot follow people, they must follow you first). Obviously both have their ups and downs.

Monica

Your blog post was an interesting read. I have also written about Google+ and Pinterest--in separate blog posts. I agree that the key to success on Pinterest is creative visual content. Why do you think people spend so little time on Google+? I think a pro for Google+ is that having a page could improve a company's SEO and Google PageRank.

Cory, I like the article. I believe you hit it on the head about Pinterest, with one addition: Entertainment shows are picking it up and offering to their fans so the age span may change a bit to perhaps fit the 34 to 44 demo and yes mostly women. More to the point Google+ is the place to rock your business and I don't say that only for the search value. Google+ with its hangouts and long conversations is a fabulous place for photographers, musicians and anyone who wants to share their 'Passion' as Guy Kawasaki said.. it is for one's passions. I don't know where they got their numbers for time on G+ as those of us who are there daily, are never only there for minutes.. I think it wise for people to take advantage of all that Google+ offers not to mention the integration with all other things Google..Maps, Places, etc., It's a goldmine!

Google+ is more complete with the features that it's providing, however the growth is probably going to be very limited unless it can provide USP compared to rival Facebook. I use both Pinterest and Google+ for my marketing, and the former rules when it comes to pictures :)